I had watched the day before as these three cheetahs and their mother successfully hunted a little klipspringer. It all started with a similar scene of alert attentiveness as they scanned the plains for their next prey.
I spent time at the Wild Coast on the eastern coast of South Africa photographing the Lesser Crested Turn as it took off in droves from a desolate beach near Umngazi. I purposefully slowed the shutter speed to capture the frantic motion of the birds in flight.
I have seen many lions in my life but none compete with the closeness and intrigue of this encounter. I attempted to capture this shot with as much detail as possible to retain the life-like portrait of this queen.
I was so taken by this scene of a cheetah moving across the plains of Mashatu in Botswana that I did not realize the bokeh of another cheetah in the background. It creates an interesting allegory for the challenges facing this magnificent cat.
This young leopard cub was one of the most enjoyable photographic subjects I've encountered. A wonderful time spent snapping shots as it drifted in and out of sleep on a slow afternoon in the African bush.
It was a windy and cool morning on this game drive... which caused the grass in the foreground to blur with the motion of the wind. As lions continue to face alarming declines, I trust this title speaks more to the temporal nature of the grass than the big cat I captured here.
This juvenile Malachite Kingfisher is only 5 inches (13cm) and was darting around a wetland just south of Johannesburg. I managed to capture this shot as it came to rest briefly on a little stump in the middle of the water. It's beautiful metallic blue colors in full display!